Writer/director Annie Silverstein’s award-winning feature debut is a lot like Clint Bentley’s award-winning feature debut of two years on, JOCKEY/’21, but centered on rodeo rather than race track. Both feature aging leads, pushing 50 but prematurely weathered playing a young man’s game. Here, it's bull wrangler Rob Morgan (superb) who’s injured on the job, brushing off doctor’s advice and risking permanent damage. And where JOCKEY details a decline in getting those premium mounts, BULL has Morgan slip from mostly White First-Class arena gigs to mostly Black ‘minor league’ venues; even worse when this proud wrangler gets demoted to rodeo clown barrel work. Silverstein determined to let the racial issues speak for themselves, both on the job and as seen in Morgan’s extended family. The other parallel with JOCKEY comes in the second narrative line: there with a putative son, a raw up-and-coming rider getting mentored at the track. Here: troubled teenage neighbor, a 14-yr-old girl Morgan winds up playing surrogate Dad to. Her mom incarcerated; hanging with the wrong crowd at school; trashing Morgan’s home to show off and get attention; falling into easy money when her mom’s old boyfriend sets her up dealing OxyContin at the rodeo. All just when she’s started to learn bull riding from Morgan and been welcomed by his extended family. These story beats not the best thing in the film. But for the most part, nicely paced, well-observed, even when her story echoes Jennifer Lawrence’s breakthru in WINTER’S BONE/’10, a similarity that does debuting Amber Havard no favors. She’s fine, but the film is best for Morgan & in capturing a rarely seen side of small-town Black culture. (NOTE: Labeled Family Friendly, but with some decidedly R-rated love-making for Morgan and an 'ex.')
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: *As mentioned, WINTER’S BONE and JOCKEY. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2023/01/jockey-2021.html
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